Burkina Faso inaugurated its first gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF, in Ouagadougou on 28 September 2026. His Excellency Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Faso, opened the plant nearly three years after laying its foundation stone in November 2023. The first phase has a theoretical refining capacity of 164 tonnes a year, rising to 515 tonnes with a second phase, Burkina24 reports.
The plant is built. Supplying it is the harder task: at 164 tonnes, first-phase capacity is well above the country’s entire annual gold output.
What was inaugurated
The refinery sits on a five-hectare site in Ouaga 2000 and is designed to turn doré into fine gold bars of 999.9/1000 purity. Its managing director, Adama Sawadogo, said the plant is modular. New refining lines can be added alongside existing ones, which is how the second phase would take capacity to 515 tonnes.
The project cost CFAF 11 billion, financed mainly by the state through the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP) with private partners. The authorities expect it to create 100 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs, according to Ouestaf.
The cost and ownership figures do not fully match earlier disclosures. Ecofin Agency, citing EITI Burkina Faso, put the cost at about CFAF 7 billion excluding land. It also reported that SONASP had taken full ownership after buying out the initial Malian partner, Marena Gold. The references to private partners at the inauguration suggest the shareholding may have changed since. It has not been published.
The supply gap
Speaking for the head of state, Mines Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba said Burkina Faso’s gold “must be transformed, controlled, valued and certified in Burkina Faso” (TMG translation). The presidency’s stated ambition is to refine all national output, industrial and artisanal.
The numbers set the challenge:
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National output. Burkina Faso produced more than 94 tonnes of gold in 2025, including nearly 43 tonnes from artisanal and semi-mechanised mining.
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Utilisation. Even if every gram produced in the country went to the refinery, first-phase capacity would run at about 57%. At 515 tonnes, the figure would fall to about 18% (TMG calculations).
National output does not translate automatically into feedstock. Industrial mines have existing refining arrangements abroad. Artisanal gold only reaches the plant if it enters state-managed channels, which the authorities have been expanding through SONASP purchases.
The legal lever
The 2024 Mining Code requires holders of industrial mining permits to process or add value to part of their output inside Burkina Faso. An April 2025 decree specified that the obligation applies to doré suitable for refining. The share to be refined locally must be set by an order from the Ministry of Mines.
That order is the key document. The published accounts of the inauguration do not mention it. Until the share is fixed, industrial miners’ contribution to the refinery depends on commercial negotiation.
Ghana offers a precedent. Its Gold Coast Refinery remained underused for a long period before securing an agreement with the Ghana Gold Board. Since July 2026, the Ghanaian government has had an agreement to buy 30% of industrial miners’ output, partly to supply local refining.
Regional competition for gold
Raffinor-BF is entering a crowded field. Guinea is positioning itself as a regional refining hub through the Nimba Gold Refinery, with a stated capacity of more than 2,300 kg a day, which could eventually exceed 500 tonnes a year. Mali and Côte d’Ivoire are also developing projects.
EITI Burkina Faso has indicated that the refinery may source gold from abroad. With every neighbour now seeking to refine its own output, imported feedstock may be hard to secure. For Guinean readers, the overlap is direct: the region’s refineries will compete for the same artisanal and cross-border flows.
Market access
Refined bars must be accepted by international buyers to earn their full value. Accreditation to international standards, such as the LBMA’s Good Delivery list, is the usual benchmark. The published accounts of the inauguration do not mention any accreditation process. Without it, Burkinabè bars may face discounts or be limited to domestic and regional buyers, including the central bank.
What to watch
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The ministerial order. The share of industrial doré that must be refined locally, and when it takes effect.
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First throughput data. Monthly or quarterly volumes actually refined, compared with the 164-tonne capacity.
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Industrial miners’ response. Whether operators sign supply agreements with the refinery.
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Accreditation. Any application for international certification of Raffinor-BF bars.
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Ownership and accounts. The shareholding of RAFFINOR-BF S.A. and the terms of private participation.
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The second phase. Whether expansion to 515 tonnes proceeds before the first phase reaches meaningful utilisation.